Molecular Dynamics Study of the Effect of Surface Topography on Sputtering Induced by 20 keV Au3 and C60 Clusters

Abstract

Molecular dynamics computer simulations are employed to investigate, at the atomic scale, the process of Ag(111) surface erosion stimulated by continuous bombardment by 20-keV Au3 and C60 clusters at 0° and 70° impact angles. The surface modification, the total sputtering yield, and the kinetic energy and angular distributions of ejected species are calculated at fluences ranging from 0 up to ∼3 × 1013 impacts/cm2. It is shown that Au3 irradiation leads to a more corrugated surface as compared to C60 bombardment. The development of the surface topography and aggregated alteration of the bulk have a significant influence on the total sputtering yield and the angular spectra, whereas the shape of the kinetic energy distributions are not sensitive to the modification of the sample morphology.